Centrifugal fan assembly

ABSTRACT

A centrifugal fan assembly including a housing having side plates with flanges formed thereon, the flanges providing recesses for insertion therein of the housing wrapper, the wrapper being secured in the flange recesses by deformation of portions of the flanges into the plane of the wrapper.

United States Patent [191 Cann [451 July 3,1973

[ CENTRIFUGAL FAN ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor: Peter L. Cann, Syracuse, N.Y.

[ 73] Assignee: Carrier Corporation, Syracuse, N.Y.

[22] Filed: Apr. 30, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 139,070

[52] U.S. Cl. 415/206, 415/219 C [51] int. Cl. F04d 29/40 [58] Field of Search 415/204, 205, 203, 415/206, 219 C; 29/156.8, 156.8 CF; 220/5 R, 67

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,195,869 4/1940 Rathbun .1 29/l56.8 CF 972,797 10/1910 Avery 220/5 R 2,382,687 8/1945 Williams 415/204 3,452,897 7/ 1969 Anthony 220/67 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 609,330 9/1948 Great Britain 415/219 C Primary Examiner l-lenry F. Raduazo Attorney-Harry G. Margin, Jr. and .1. Raymond Curtin [5 7] ABSTRACT A centrifugal fan assembly including a housing having side plates with flanges formed thereon, the flanges providing recesses for insertion therein of the housing wrapper, the wrapper being secured in the flange recesses by deformation of portions of the flanges into the plane of the wrapper.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures mzmmm a FIG. 3

INVENTOR. PETER L. CANN ATTORNEY CENTRIFUGAL FAN ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Centrifugal fan assemblies ordinarily include a sheet metal housing comprising a scroll-shaped wrapper with side plates affixed thereto. The side plates may be welded, screwed or bolted to the wrapper to form the housing. The manpower required and, therefore, the production costs to assemble fan housings with fasteners such as screws or bolts is excessive. Further, the large number of fasteners ordinarily employed adds to the cost of the housing. Welding, while requiring less manual labor, may entail transfer of the stamped sheet metal housing parts to a welding area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a fan assembly including a housing having a scroll-shaped wrapper. U-shaped flanges formed on the housing side plates are adapted to receive the wrapper, deformation of portions of the flanges into the wrapper forming corresponding deformations in the wrapper to secure the wrapper to the side plates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a centrifugal fan assembly with a portion broken away;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the fan housing illustrating a portion of the housing flange and wrapper; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IVIV of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a centrifugal fan assembly including a fan housing 3. The fan housing is comprised of side plates 5 which are secured to a wrapper 7 in a manner to be hereinafter explained. Each of the side plates is provided with a central circular opening 9 for passage of air into the fan housing. A flange 11 is formed around the periphery of each side plate, the flange having a first section 13 bent outwardly from the plane of the side plate and a second section 15 bent back parallel to the first section to form a recess opening inwardly of the side plate. The side plate, including flange l l and the central circular opening 9 may be easily formed in a stamping machine using simple dies.

The wrapper 7 is comprised of a flat, rectangular sheet of material which may be economically cut to the proper size from sheet metal stock or other suitable material.

The flanges 1 l in side plates 5 are adapted to receive the edges of wrapper 7, insertion of the wrapper edges in the flanges causing the wrapper to assume a scrollshaped configuration. Thus, a separate operation to preform the wrapper is unnecessary.

After insertion of the wrapper edges into the flanges, portions of the flanges are deformed into the plane of the wrapper to secure the wrapper to the side plates. The deformations are preferably in the form of circular dimples 17. It can be seen from the foregoing that the fan housing may' be completely fabricated without the use of fasteners.

A motor 19 is mounted on the housing 3 by a suitable motor support bracket 21. A fan wheel 23 is secured to the shaft of motor 19, the motor being mounted such that the fan wheel is properly positioned within the housing.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A centrifugal fan assembly including a motor having a rotatable shaft, a fan wheel mounted on the shaft, and a fan housing for admitting input air to the fan wheel and for directing discharge air from the fan wheel, said fan housing comprising:

a scroll-shaped wrapper wrapped substantially around the fan wheel, said wrapper having spaced ends forming part of a discharge port for said discharge air and side portions having edges spaced to receive the fan wheel therebetween; and pair of planar, parallel side plates attached to the side portions of said wrapper for cooperating with said wrapper to substantially enclose said fan wheel and to form a discharge port for said fan wheel, at least one of said side plates having a central opening for admitting air to the fan wheel, and each of said side plates comprising: an end portion extending between the spaced ends of said wrapper to form in conjunction with the end portion of the other side plate and with the spaced ends of said wrapper, a discharge port for air discharged from the fan wheel; and peripheral flange for receiving a side edge of said wrapper, said flange including a first section extending outwardly from the fan wheel in one direction normal to the plane of the side plate and a second section bent back inwardly toward the fan wheel over the first section and extending parallel to the first section to form a recess for receiving said side edge of said wrapper; each first and second section of said flange and the side edge portion of the wrapper received in the recess having cooperating pairs of discontinuous deformations transverse to the flange and to the wrapper for attaching each side plate to the wrapper, one deformation of each pair of deformations extending into the other deformation of the pair to form an interlocking connection.

* 1 II II, 

1. A centrifugal fan assembly including a motor having a rotatable shaft, a fan wheel mounted on the shaft, and a fan housing for admitting input air to the fan wheel and for directing discharge air from the fan wheel, said fan housing comprising: a scroll-shaped wrapper wrapped substantially around the fan wheel, said wrapper having spaced ends forming part of a discharge port for said discharge air and side portions having edges spaced to receive the fan wheel therebetween; and a pair of planar, parallel side plates attached to the side portions of said wrapper for cooperating with said wrapper to substantially enclose said fan wheel and to form a discharge port for said fan wheel, at least one of said side plates having a central opening for admitting air to the fan wheel, and each of said side plates comprising: an end portion extending between the spaced ends of said wrapper to form in conjunction with the end portion of the other side plate and with the spaced ends of said wrapper, a discharge port for air discharged from the fan wheel; and a peripheral flange for receiving a side edge of said wrapper, said flange including a first section extending outwardly from the fan wheel in one direction normal to the plane of the side plate and a second section bent back inwardly toward the fan wheel over the first section and extending parallel to the first section to form a recess for receiving said side edge of said wrapper; each first and second section of said flange and the side edge portion of the wrapper received in the recess having cooperating pairs of discontinuous deformations transverse to the flange and to the wrapper for attaching each side plate to the wrapper, one deformation of each pair of deformations extending into the other deformation of the pair to form an interlocking connection. 